Russia to hold military exercises every five years - Shoigu

EPA-EFE / MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russia plans to hold large-scale military exercises every five years, the country+s Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu said in an interview with Rossiya-1 on Sunday. Shoigu said the state armament program covers a ten-year period and that the drills are used to analyze the progress. The head of the defense ministry stressed Russia's military doctrine is purely defensive.

The Vostok 2018 military exercise, the largest of its kind since the fall of the Soviet Union, involving at least 300,000 soldiers, 36,000 vehicles and 1,000 aircraft, started on September 11. During troop inspection on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country will work on strengthening the military in order to defend Russian sovereignty and assist its allies. He insisted Moscow has no "aggressive plans," but rather focuses on constructive cooperation.